Public Health and Population Health Nursing Care

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering public health foundations, health promotion models, infection prevention, medication administration, spiritual health, and sleep physiology for Nursing Care Exam 1.

Health

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Population Health

The health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group, patterns of health determinants, and policies and interventions linking them.

Assessment (Public Health Core Function)

A core public health function focused on assessing and monitoring population health, as well as investigating, diagnosing, and addressing health hazards and root causes.

Policy Development (Public Health Core Function)

A core public health function focused on informing, educating, mobilizing communities, implementing policies, plans, and laws, and using legal or regulatory actions.

Assurance (Public Health Core Function)

A core public health function focused on building a skilled workforce, ensuring equitable access, improving evaluation and research, and maintaining a strong public health organization.

Healthy People

A national framework updated in 10-year increments that prioritizes healthcare goals with a primary focus on health promotion and disease prevention.

Primary Prevention

True prevention aimed at preventing disease or injury before it occurs, such as health education programs for school-age children about the effects of smoking.

Secondary Prevention

Prevention focused on screening techniques and treating early stages of disease, such as mammograms and pap smears.

Tertiary Prevention

Interventions aimed at managing irreversible, long-term disease or disability to minimize complications and reduce effects after disease occurs.

Upstream Thinking

A conceptual framework that focuses on addressing root causes of illness (such as poverty or poor housing) rather than solely managing downstream consequences.

Health Belief Model

A model demonstrating how individual perceptions of disease risk, severity, and modifying factors influence the likelihood of taking preventive action and self-efficacy.

Illness Behaviors

The ways in which a patient acts to monitor their body, define and interpret symptoms, take action, and utilize healthcare resources.

Pre-contemplation Stage

A stage of change where the individual is not interested in change, may be defensive, and has no intention to modify behavior within the next 6 months.

Contemplation Stage

A stage of change where the individual realizes that a behavior change is necessary within the next 6 months.

Preparation Stage

A stage of change where the person actively believes change is necessary and works with healthcare providers to develop a plan of action within the next month.

Action Stage

A stage of change lasting up to 6 months in which an individual is actively involved in carrying out a plan for behavioral change.

Maintenance Stage

The stage of change characterized by sustained behavioral change over time following initial action.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

A structural model prioritizing human needs from basic physiological needs (oxygen, fluids, nutrition) up through safety, love/belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI)

An infection developed by a patient as a direct result of contact with healthcare personnel or invasive procedures during care.

Donning PPE Sequence

The proper order for putting on personal protective equipment: Gown → Mask → Goggles or Face Shield → Gloves.

Doffing PPE Sequence

The proper order for removing personal protective equipment: Gown/Gloves → Goggles or Face Shield → Mask → Hand hygiene.

Standard Precautions

Infection control measures applied to the care of all patients in all settings, regardless of diagnosis or presumed infection status.

Airborne Precautions

Isolation measures for diseases transmitted by small airborne droplets over long periods, requiring a negative-airflow room and an N95 respirator (e.g., TB, measles).

Droplet Precautions

Isolation measures for large droplets transmitted within 3 feet of a patient, requiring a surgical mask and dedicated equipment (e.g., influenza, meningitis).

Contact Precautions

Isolation measures required for direct or indirect contact with contaminated body fluids or environment, requiring gowns and gloves (e.g., C. difficile, MRSA).

Protective Environment

A specialized hospital environment with positive airflow filtered through HEPA filters to protect highly susceptible patients, such as kidney transplant recipients.

Localized Infection

An infection confined to a specific body area, characterized by swelling, redness, heat, pain or tenderness, and loss of function.

Systemic Infection

An infection that affects the entire body, manifested by fever, elevated white blood cell count, malaise, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and lymph node enlargement.

Bag Technique

A protocol used by home health nurses to keep the nursing bag clean and prevent cross-contamination among patients.

Formula Method for Medication Calculation

A formula used to calculate medication dosages: $\frac{\text{Dose ordered (Desired)}}{\text{Dose on hand (Have)}} \times \text{Volume/Quantity} = \text{Amount}$.

Sublingual Administration

A route of oral medication administration where the drug is placed under the tongue to dissolve.

Buccal Administration

A route of oral medication administration where the drug is placed between the cheek and gums to dissolve.

Transdermal Patch Application

Application of medication to clean, dry, hairless skin on a rotated site daily, requiring removal documentation, location logging, and labeling with date, time, and initials.

Parts of the Medication Order

The essential components of an order: Patient's name, date and time, drug name, dosage, route, frequency, indication, and prescriber signature.

Drug Label Components

Key information found on a medication label including trade name, generic name, dosage strength, drug form, quantity, NDC number, manufacturer, storage, and expiration date.

Three Checks of Medication Safety

1) Read order on MAR and select drug matching order/check expiration; 2) Compare label to medical order at WOW; 3) Recheck order, label, and patient ID at bedside.

Seven Rights of Medication Administration

Right patient, right medication, right dose, right route, right time, right documentation, and right indication.

PRN Order

A medication order administered only when needed based on patient condition or symptoms.

STAT Order

A medication order indicating that a single dose of medication should be given immediately.

Now Order

A medication order used when a patient needs a medication quickly, but not immediately, typically within 60 to 90 minutes.

Spirituality

An awareness of one's inner self and a sense of connection to a higher being, nature, or a purpose greater than oneself.

Spiritual Beliefs Across Developmental Stages

Developmental progression of spirituality; adolescents question practices and form individual opinions, while young adults establish independent worldviews and solve moral conflicts.

Process S (Homeostatic Sleep Process)

The biological mechanism regulating sleep pressure that accumulates the longer a person remains awake, determining sleep duration and depth.

Process C (Circadian Sleep Process)

The 24-hour biological clock that controls cycles of sleepiness and wakefulness throughout the day and night.

Two-Process Model of Sleep Regulation

The interaction between Process S (homeostatic drive) and Process C (circadian rhythm) that determines overall sleep timing and wakefulness.

NREM Stage 3 Sleep

The deepest stage of NREM sleep (slow-wave sleep) during which growth hormone is released to repair cells, synthesize proteins, and conserve energy.

Sleep Hygiene

Practices and habits that a patient associates with promoting effective and restful sleep.

Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)

A standardized sleep assessment tool yielding a global score from 0 to 21, where 0 to 4 indicates good sleep quality and 5 to 21 indicates poor sleep quality.